Belt display rack



c. w. DUDLEY 2,951,589

BELT DISPLAY RACK Sept. 6, 1960 Filed May 18, 1959 F I G.l

:{p I INVENTOR. Chrisfopher W. Dudley r; BY 11w United States Patent Ofiice 2,951,589 Patented Sept. 6, 1960 BELT DISPLAY RACK Christopher W. Dudley, Box 597, Bennettsville, S.C.; Rosa W. Dudley, executrix of said Christopher W. Dudley, deceased Filed May is, 1959, Ser. No. 814,048

2 Claims. Cl. 211-59 This invention relates generally to the class of racks or stands and is directed particularly to improvements in structures designed for supporting a multiplicity of waist belts for display and sale.

In stores where waist belts are sold, more especially mens waist belts which usually have loop type buckles, various means are provided for displaying the belts. In some cases the belts are furnished the retailer .in individual cartons having transparent tops or cartons which are entirely transparent so that the belt and the buckle can be easily seen, but this manner of displaying the belts so packaged requires the use of a relatively large space on a counter or shelf.

In other instances, buckle carrying belts are hung up on hooks for display and with this arrangement, where different types of buckles may be exhibited on belts of each of the sizes on hand, the selection of a particular type of buckle at the bottom of a number of buckles on the supporting hooks requires that the clerk or salesman take off all of the overlying buckles in order to reach for removal the one which the customer has selected. Obviously this is somewhat time consuming and if the belts are not put back immediately, it means that they will be lying around loose until they can be replaced.

In the light of the foregoing it is a particular object of the present invention to provide a display stand or rack for buckle carrying waist belts upon which a large number of belts of different sizes can be hung, with the belts grouped according to size and wherein any selected belt or buckle of a group can be easily and quickly removed from the group, particularly wherethe selected belt in the group might be below the top one thereof.

The invention has for a further and more particular object to provide a rack or stand for buckle carrying waist belts which is designed in a novel manner whereby in the event of the selection by a customer of a belt lying at the bottom of a group or below a top one of the group, the overlying buckles can be easily shifted to a position where they will be held together or in the group while the selected overlying one is removed, whereupon the shifted group can be returned easily and quickly to the original position.

A still further'object of the invention is to provide the rack or stand of the character described which embodies in a frame of suitable form, a plurality of divided or twopart rods extending vertically across between opposite upper and lower sides of the frame and wherein the upper part of each of the two-part rods is fixed or rigid while the lower part thereof is resiliently supported in alignment with the upper part so that it can be easily swung to an inclined position out of alignment with the fixed part to facilitate the removal therefrom of the buckle of a belt which is suspended thereon.

The invention generally consists of a relatively long rectangular frame supported upon a suitable standard which may be adapted to be rotated or fixed against rotation, and with the long sides of the frame horizontal and disposed one above the other. Extending transversely of the frame in vertical position between the top and bottom sides thereof are a number of two-part units which might be defined as divided rods and the upper part of each unit is rigidly fixed to the top bar of the frame while the lower part of each unit is maintained in alignment with the upper part and supported on the lower bar of the frame. These lower parts of the units are coupled to the lowerbar of the frame by a suitable resilient connecting means which is preferably in the form of a coil spring, which is coaxial with the two parts of the unit. The lower part of the unit normally has the buckles of belts of a group engaged thereover and when a buckle is to be removed from the lower part, the said lower part can be swung forward to permit this, the spring or other flexible means bending or yielding and then returning the lower part of the unit to its vertical position after the buckle has been removed and such lower part has been released. In the event that the selected belt and buckle may be below a number of others, then before the lower portion or part of the unit is bent forwardly, the buckles of the belts lying above the selected one are shifted upwardly onto the fixed part of the unit where they can. be held until the selected buckle has been taken otf and then released so that they will drop back into position on the lower part of the unit. Thus the selection of a desired belt and buckle can be made without materially interfering with the arrangement of the other buckles in the same group. I

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detail description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming part of the specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not confined to a strict conformity with the showing of the drawing but may be changed or modi fied so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from, the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawing: t 1 a Fig. 1 is a view in elevation with portions broken away and in section showing a waist belt supporting rack or stand constructed in accordance with the present inven: tion and illustrating the manner of suspending waist belts thereon;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. l; t r

Fig. 3 is a view in section corresponding to Fig. 2 but showing the displacement of the lower part of thebelt supporting unit for the removal of the belt therefrom and also showing in dotted lines a beltshifted to the fixed upper part ofthe unit and showing one way of removing a selected belt from the lower part of the unit.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the rack or stand is shown as embodying a bottom portion or base plate '10 carrying a vertical post or standard 12 upon which is mounted the rack structure which is generally designated 14.

The base 10 is here shown as being in the form of a circular plate 16 having a central upstanding boss 18 with which the lower end of the standard 12 is connected. The standard 12 may be fixed against movement to the boss 18 or it may be attached thereto in a suit able manner so that it can be rotated on a vertical axis. Any suitable means may be employed for facilitating the rotation of the standard and the rack frame carried thereby and in the illustration there is shown a short vertical sleeve or cup 20 fixed upon the top of the boss 18 and having the lower end of the post or standard 12 stepped therein, the cup or sleeve 20 thus forming a step bearing for the post, as will be readily recognized.

The rack structure 14 is in the form of an elongate rectangular frame 22 having the upper and lower longitudinal bars or rails 24 and 26 respectively, and the connecting and vertically extending end or side rails 23.

The bottom or lower bar or rail 26 is rigidly fixed midway ofits ends to the top of the post or standard 12 and the frame is thus held in a vertical plane as illustrated.

Extending vertically between the top and bottom bars 24 and 26 are two-part or two-section hanger units 30 which might be defined as two-part bars, and these twopart units or bars consist of the upper-bar part 32 and the lower bar part 33.

There is provided one. of these two-part units for each size of belt to be displayed, the sizes being designated as shown, by marking the top rail or bar of the frame as illustrated.

The upper part of each unit, designated 32, is rigidly fixed at one end to the upper bar 24 of the frame while the lower part 33 is maintained beneath and in alignment with the associated upper part and is supported upon the bottom rail or bar 26.

The support for the lower part 33 of each unit is of a suitable flexible character which will permit such lower part 33 to be deflected from its aligned relationship with the adjacent upper part 32 in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3 to permit a belt buckle to be removed therefrom.

While any suitable means may be employed for coupling in a flexible manner the lower end of each unit part 33 with the bottom rail or bar 26, the arrangement here illustrated is preferred, which consists of a short coil spring 34 having one end secured as by welding or in any other suitable manner to the top side of the lower bar or rail 26 and having the lower end of the supported unit 33 extended into the upper end of the spring and secured or fixed thereto in any desired manner.

The two parts 32 and 33 of each unit are of such length that when they are in aligned relation as illustrated, the opposing ends of the parts will be substantially in contacting relation and such ends may be rounded off as indicated at 35 so that the movement of the lower part 33 can be elfected without striking the adjacent end of the upper part.

In Fig. 1 there are illustrated in full lines two waist belts 36 having conventional buckles 37 thereon. As will be readily apparent, each of the units 30 is intended to support a multiplicity of belts of one size and, of course, when the belts are hung thereon with the buckles having the lower portions 33 of the units passed therethrough, the buckles will rest one upon the other. Each of the units will be loaded with a number of belts to the extent that the buckles thereof are in a stack which approaches the top end of the lower portion 33 but does not extend beyond the top end of such portion.

In removing a belt and buckle after a selection has been made, it willbe seen that this can be easily accomplished by pushing the lower portion 33 of the unit forward, causing the resilient lower part or spring 34 to flex as shown in Fig. 3, whereupon the selected buckle can he slipped off. If the buckle selected should be near the bottom of the stack, then all of the buckles lying above the selected one will be shifted upwardly onto the fixed upper part 32 of the unit and they can thus. be held in place while the selected buckle is removed, whereupon, following the return of the lower part 33 to its initial vertical position, the release of the upwardly shifted group will cause them to all drop back in place on the lower part of the unit. In this way any one of the buckles in a group may be easily and quickly taken out and the rest of the group returned to normal hanging and displa position without difficulty and without getting the shifted belts and buckles scattered about as would be likely if it was necessary to take them all ofi of the supporting element.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there is provided by the present invention a novel belt supporting rack or stand which not only provides for the easy and compact display of a large number of belts of diflerent sizes, but provides a means whereby selection of any one of the belts of any size may be easily made without materially disturbing the other belts of the group and in addition the rack or stand structure is not only of relatively simple design, but can be made strong and durable so as to maintain its efiiciency over a long period of use.

I claim:

1. A rack of the character described comprising a support, an elongate frame carried thereby and including spaced upper and lower substantially horizontal rails, a plurality of article carrying units in side-by-side relation in the frame between said upper and lower rails and each unit consisting of an upper bar rigidly joined to the upper frame rail and directed toward the lower rail, a spring element secured to the lower frame rail and extending upwardly toward and in line with the upper bar, and a lower bar secured at one end to the spring element and entirely supported thereby and extending upward in alignment with the upper bar and terminating at its upper end in close proximately to the lower end of the upper bar.

2. The invention according to: claim 1, wherein said spring element is an upright coil spring having the said one end of the lower bar fixed therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 274,688 Wicks Mar. 27, 1883 516,525 Dick Mar. 13, 1894 1,485,372 Dole Mar. 4, 1924 2,116,369 Stolp May 3, 1938 2,287,418 Dudley June 23, 1942 

